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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE BIBLE OF GOD; 



: S S 



II, IflfUl u 



^ITH HIS BOYS, 



mm* urn itiitY, 



by -w. :mt. j-. 



"3*» If ml fe ata*/ 




LOUISVILLE, KtS^LV 

▼ alleb, shbbbill & CO. 
■tees. 



Be 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by 

WALLER, SHEB.RILL & CO., 

in the Clerk's office of the District Court of Kentucky. 



COISTTEISTTS. 



Preface. 

CHAPTER I., 

The Father's Return. - - 9 

CHAPTER II., 
The Bible. - 16 

CHAPTER III., 

The Bible is of God. - - 27 

CHAPTER IV., 

The Bible of God, proved from 
Prophesy. 46 



8 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER V., 
The Bible, Objections Met. 



67 



CHAPTER VI., 

The Bible. Its Beauties. 



85 





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This little book tells you about the 
Bible— God's Word. It is written 
for you, that you may love and read 
the Bible more. If your father was 
away off in some distant land, and 
should write you a letter, would you 
not read it often ? 

Well, the Bible is a letter from 
your Father in Heaven to yon. If 
you love Him, yon must read and 
obey what He says to you in it. May 
it lead you to the Beautiful City ! 

W. M. J. 



CHAPTER I 



THE FATHER'S EETUEN. 



_ PA, I am so glad you 
have got back home again. 
Grandpa has come from Eng- 
land, and says he is going to 
stay with us ever so long." 
Such were the words that 
greeted Mr. Myrtle as he alighted 
from his carriage at his gate, after an 
absence of ten days from home and 
its comforts. Bobby, his oldest son, 
who had been standing at the gate 




10 



th; 



tchingforhiio, 

was re- 
her. 
Ai reached of the 

^ in 

who ' iedhis 

fotke: [ mt exclaim- 

ing. "O] : op 

* B home. 

Wlu 

and he broug 

many gc : d thi 

P 1V r.iicl a 

^° with 

— 

All tie Ben 

ha and hi 

were ; '.. f 

the h father. Mr. Myi id 



THE FATHER'S EETUEN. 11 

returned from Ins Jong trip, to find his 
family all well and happy, and his 
aged father, whom he had not seen for 
many years. Joyous was the meeting 
of the father and son after so many 
years of separation. To the good 
training in youth, and kind advice of 
his father, Mr. Myrtle, to a very great 
extent, owed his good traits and high 
moral character, and better than all, 
his deep and ardent piety. The son 
was conscious of the great debt he was 
under to his father, and every wav 
possible, strove to pay it. He ioved 
him with all i ,f hi s no bl e 

heart, and did for him all that was in 
his power to render him happy, and 
to show him his. love for him. 
The Hi re hap- 



12 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

py indeed, as they told each other the 
events of the past ten days, while the 
father was absent. Little Benny was 
very anxious to tell his Pa all about 
his rides upon his rocking horse that 
Grandpa had brought him, and how 
he had shot at the birds in the or- 
chard with h' and arrows, and 
he would have taken up all the even- 
ing, had not his Ma checked him in 
his talk. Bobby, not caring much for 
these things, was glad when his Ma 
had silenced Benny. When there was 
a lull in the conversation of the old 
people, Bobby said : ;> While you were 
gone, Pa. I have, with Grandpa, been 
reading the Bible, which you called 
God's letter to man, and I have learn- 
ed so many things from it. Grandpa 



THE FATHER'S RETURN. 13 

told me ever so many things about it. 
I am very much taken with it, and 
am so glad that you have come back 
to tell me more." 

Grandpa. " Yes, Bobby and I have 
been, every clay, reading the Bible, 
and he is so anxious to know all about 
it, that he has wearied my old eyes — 
we read so much. I am glad to see 
my little grandson so deeply interest- 
ed in the Word of God. I trust he 
will continue to study it until he loves 
it as all good men do." 

Pa. "Bobby and I have had a 
good many talks about God, as he has 
told you, I suppose, and he, I am glad 
to know, has a very good idea as to 
God and His character. I told him 
when yoi come, and 1 returned, I 



14 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

would tell him how I know that the 
Bible is God's letter to man." 

Grandpa, " Yes, he has told me all 
about God, as you taught him. I 
hope he will learn as much about His 
Word as he has about God." 

Bobby. "01 hope I shall learn all 
about the Bible. I will have Pa, and 
Grandpa too, to tell me about it. Shall 
we not commence to-night, Pa ? Ma 
is busy sewing, and Benny is asleep; 
why not commence ? " 

Little Benny, who was not very 
sound asleep, hearing what Bobby 
said, exclaimed : "No I ain't asleep, 
either. I was thinking about how I 
would take my bow and arrows and 
go to the woods to-morrow, and kill 
some birds for Ma. You ain't a going 



THE FATHER'S RETURN. 15 

to talk while I am asleep, for I want 
to hear about God's letter to Pa, too." 
Pa. "Yes, my little man shall 
hear, too, about the Bible, when we 
talk ; but it is too late to-night, so we 
will have to put it off until to-morrow 
evening ; then we will have a good 
long talk. Now Grandpa will read 
God's Word, and we will bow in 
prayer before the Lord, and I hope 
my little boys will be quiet, and listen 
as Grandpa reads." Mr. Myrtle, the 
elder, then adjusting his spectacles, 
read the seventy-eighth Psalm, com- 
mencing, "Give ear, my people, to 
my law ; incline your ears to the words 
of my mouth," and asked the blessing 
of God upon all, and His protection 
while they slept. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE BIBLE. 




LOW, Pa, tell us about the 
Bible. If it is written by 
the great and wise Being, 
God, I am in haste to learn 
all about it." With great 
w^3^ earnestness Bobby thus ad- 
dressed his Pa the next evening, as 
soon as all had entered the sitting 
room. Grandpa had taken his seat in 
the great easy chair, on one side of 

the centre table, with the Bible in his 
16 



THE BIBLE. 17 

lap ; Mr. Myrtle was on the other side, 
while Bobby and Benny were seated 
upon their little stools, one by Grand- 
pa, the other by Pa. 

Bobby. " Now, Pa, we are ready to 
hear what you can tell us about God's 
letter. I was reading it while you 
were away, and I noticed it was called 
the Bible. What does that mean? 
Why is it. so called ? " 

Pa. " The Bible means the Book, 
or the Book of Books. It is so called 
because it is God's Book, and so much 
better and greater than all other 
books. God wrote this ; men wrote 
all others." 

Benny. " But Pa, I heard Grandpa 
call it the Old Testament and the New 



18 THE BIBLE OF GOD, 

Testament. Has it two names? Why 
is it called Testament, Pa? " 

Bobby. "Why, Benny, Grandpa 
told us about that the other day. He 
said Testament meant Covenant, and 
it was called Testament because it 
contains the will in which are told the 
great things kept by God for those 
who are His children. He said also 
that it belonged to God's children." 

Pa, "You are right, my son. Je- 
sus is called the Testator, that is, one 
who makes a will, and when the will 
was made, Jesus, God's Son, sealed it 
with His blood." 

Bobby. "I heard Mr. Theo, the 
preacher, call the Bible Scriptures. 
What does that mean, Grandpa? ? ' 

Grandpa. ' ' Scriptures simply mean 



THE BIBLE. 19 

writings. The Scriptures are the wri- 
tings of God." 

Bobby. "All these names— Bible, 
Testament, Scriptures, mean the same 
thing then. But Pa, you called the 
Bible God's letter. When I was read- 
ing it, I thought it was ever so many 
letters. How does that happen ? Was 
it not all written at the same time ? " 

Pa. " no, my son ; the Old Tes- 
tament has thirty-nine books or let- 
ters, written at different times ; the 
New Testament has twenty-seven let- 
ters, written in different years, and by 
different persons." 

Bobby. " yes, that is the reason, 
then, why it has different names to 
each letter." 

Benny. "Pa, when Grandpa was 



20 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

reading, he skipped ever so much in 
the middle of the Bible, and when I 
asked him why he did it, he said it 
was the Apocrypha. What dues that 
mean, and why do we not take that as 
God^s letter ? ,? 

Pa. " Apocrypha means hidden, 
or concealed, or doubtful. These 
books are not of God, but written by 
men, as they say themselves. The 
reason, then, why ( a did not 

read them is, because they a the 

words of God. No one receives them 
as the writings of Go* the Ro- 

man Catholics, and they do it because 
it upholds some of their foolish do- 
ings." 

Bobby. "You said, Pa, that the 
Bible was written to men. Was it 



THE BIBLE. 21 

written in English, or French, or Ger- 
man ? Did God write to each people, 
in their own language, so that all could 
read for themselves ? " 

Pa. "0 no, it was written in two 
languages ; the Old Testament in He- 
brew, and the new in Greek." 

Benny. " Why, Pa, our Bible is not 
written that way. I do not know 
these languages, but I can read this 
Bible,' ' and Benny laid his hand upon 
the Bible on Grandpa's knees. 

Pa. "But Benny, learned men 
have translated this from the Hebrew 
and Greek for you. Do you know 
what translate means, boys? " 

Bobby. -0 yes, Pa. The other 
day when that Indian came here, we 
could not understand his talk; but the 



22 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

man that came with him, explained it 
to us. That was translating, was it 
not, Pa?" 

Pa. "Yes, that is what learned 
men have done for us ; they have ex- 
plained the language to us. So it is 
explained to all the nations where it 
has been sent. It is put in their own 
language." 

Bobby. " But Pa, would it not have 
been better, more like God, who is 
kind, and good, and wise, to have writ- 
ten in all the languages to all na- 
tions?" 

Pa. " No, my son. When the Bi- 
ble was written, the language it was 
written in died; that is, people quit 
talking it, and thus it could not be 
changed." 



THE BIBLE. 23 

Bobby . " yes, Pa, I now see how- 
wise God is. Man could not have 
done that way. Now God's letter can 
not change like all other languages, 
and we may be certain that we have 
it pure. Men would never have 
thought of that. But Pa, I noticed 
that the Bible is divided into verses, 
and some times these verses stop in 
the middle of a sentence, Did God 
do that ? Was that wise ? " 

Grandpa. "That was not done by 
God. A man in the middle of the 
sixteenth century did that. His name 
was Robert Stephens, and he was a 
French printer." 

Bobby. "X am glad to know that 
God did not do it, All His works are 
perfect." 



24 E I3ILLE OF GOD. 

Pa. "The Bible was divided into 
verses, so that it could easily be re- 
ferred to at any time. I can now tell 
you to look at a certain verse, in a cer- 
tain chapter, and you can find it easy." 

Bobby. "Well, it would have been 
better if Mr. Stephens had not broken 
up sentences, but commenced a verse 
at a full stop. Is there any book as 
old as the Bible, Pa?" 

Pa. "No, my son; the Bible, that 
is, the first part of it written, is a 
thousand years older than any other 
book. Away back, thousands of years 
in the past, it was written. It has 
stood, while kingdoms have arisen and 
fallen. God's Word lives longer than 
all else." 

Bobby. " how much we ought to 



THE BIBLE. 25 

love and read such a book ! But Pa, 
you have not told me yet how you 
know that this is God's word. Some 
men say it is not, John Willis laugh- 
ed at me, at school the other day, 
when I said I was reading God's 
Word. He said it was the word of 
man. He said, too, that his Pa was 
as good as any body's Pa, and he told 
him that the Bible was a cheat, and 
his Pa was an infidel. What is that, 
Pa? It must be some thing bad, if 
being that makes him talk so about 
the Bible." 

Pa. " An infidel is one who rejects 
the Bible, and says it is not God's 
Word. I hope my little boy will nev- 
er be an infidel." 

Bobby. " I do not want to be. Tell 



26 THE BIBLE OF GOD, 

me how I am to know that God wrote 
the Bible. I believe it because you 
and Grandpa say so, but I want to 
know how to prove it. Will you not 
tell me?" 

Pa. " Yes I will, but I see that it 
is bed time, so you must wait until to- 
morrow evening, then I will tell you 
how I know, and how you may know 
it." 

Grandpa read a part of the one 
hundred and nineteenth- Psalm, in 
which are these words: " My tongue 
shall speak of thy word ; for all thy 
commandments are righteousness ;" 
and all worshiped the Lord. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE BIBLE IS OF GOD. 



HE next day, while Bob- 
by was at school, his mind 
w r as upon the Bible. He 
i could not see how it could be 
approved that God wrote it, as 
^ no one had seen Him do it; 
and while thus 'thinking, he heard 
some of the bad boys, larger than 
himself, making light of the Bible, 
saying that it was not what preachers 

said it was, but that priests had writ- 

27 




28 THE BIBLE OP GOD. 

ten it to make monev, and had told 
the people it was from God, so that 
they might have more power over 
men. He was sorry to hear them 
talk thus, for he believed the Bible 
was from God, because his Pa told 
him so ; but it troubled him to think 
he could not prove it. So, as soon as 
school closed, he hastened home to 
learn from his Pa the proof. After 
supper, when all were arranged, as on 
the last evening, Bobby commenced the 
talk by saying : " Pa, I heard some of 
the big boys at school to-day making 
light of the Bible ; and Jack Weston 
said that priests wrote it, and then 
told the people that God did it. I 
was so sorry that I could not prove to 
him that God wrote it ; but I was glad 



THE BIBLE IS OF GOD. 29 

when I thought of this evening, as I 
knew you would teach me how to 
prove it, Now, Pa, what is the proof ?" 

Pa. " Well, my son, I will try to 
explain it to you. I hope you will not 
let those bad boys lead you to think 
less of the Bible ; only bad people talk 
so of it. I suppose you think that 
God could write to men if He wanted 
to?" 

Bobby. "0 yes, for God is all-pow- 
erful. You taught me that He can 
do any thing. If He can make worlds 
and men, I don't suppose any one 
could doubt but that He could write 
to the men He makes." 

Pa. " Then God can make a reve- 
lation, that is, give His thoughts to 
man. He can impress His thoughts 



30 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

upon the mind of one man, and that 
man can write them for others. This 
is what He has done.'' 

Bobby, " Pa, I see now how it is. 
God did not write it himself, but He 
gave it to one man, impressed His 
thoughts upon this man, and then told 
him to write it for others. Moses, 
and Solomon, and Matthew, and John, 
and Paul, and Peter, and many others, 
did the writing. God told them what 
to say, by impressing it upon their 
minds. I am glad that you explained 
this, for 1 wondered how these men 
wrote the Bible, and vet God did it. 
I see now." 

Pa. "Yes, God inspired them, or 
breathed the words into their minds, 
and they spoke and wrote them." 



THE BIBLE IS OF GOD. 31 

Bobby. " It was like the way Benny- 
made that speech in the parlor, when 
the folks thought he did so well. You 
stood behind the curtain and told him 
what to say, and lie did the speaking. 
So God is not seen, but He told the 
men what to say, and they said it." 

Pa. "You have the true idea* 
But now as we have seen that God 
could, if lie wanted to, reveal His will 
to man, do you not think, from what 
you have learned of God, that he 
would do it? •" 

Bobby. "Yes, Pa; when you told 
me how good He was, and kind, I 
thought it strange that He had not 
told those whom He had made, how 
to do, so as to please Him. I would 



32 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

expect Him to tell them what to do, 
it would be so like Him." 

Pa. " Well, do you not think that 
man needed this word from Him? 
How could we know what to do to 
please Him, if He did not tell us? 
Was it not needed ? " 

Bobby. " I need it, Pa, for I do not 
know how to do, without the Bible, so 
that He may be pleased. I suppose 
every body else would need His 
word." 

Pa. "When you look at those 
places where the Bible is not read, 
where the people have not heard of it, 
you see how much the world needs it." 

Bobby. "0 yes, I heard Mr. 
Graves, the preacher, who had been 
away across the ocean to heathen 



THE BIBLE IS OF GOD. 33 

lands, last Sabbath tell how the peo- 
ple acted. He said that they bowed 
down before a piece of wood, called an 
idol, and worshipped it. And some 
times they worshipped a bird, and 
some times a cow, and some times 
even a snake. And I cried — I could 
not help it — when he told about the 
mother taking her little boy and 
throwing him into the river to be eat 
up by the great fishes. How sorry 
she must have been to see her little 
boy killed. And Mr. Graves said she 
did it because she thought it was pleas- 
ing to God, and would make Him 
bless her. If she had God's word she 
would not do this cruel act. She need- 
ed it very much. I know that word 
is needed by all men, that they may 



34 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

know how to act so as to please God 
and be happy." 

Pa. "Yes, God's word is needed 
by man. Well, we have now seen 
that God can make a revelation of His 
will, and that His goodness would lead 
us to expect it, and that man stands 
very much in need of it. But the 
question still comes to us, did God 
make it ? Is God the author or writer 
of the Bible?" 

Bohby. " Yes, Pa, that is the ques- 
tion. I want the proof of it for my- 
self. Did God write it?" 

Pa. "Well, the first proof I give 
you is, that there are things in the 
Bible that none but God could know. 
As man could not know them, man 
could not tell them ; but these things 



THE BIBLE IS OF GOD, 35 

are written in the Bible, and it follows 
that some one wiser than man wrote 
them ; it must be God." 

Bobby. " If these things are found 
in the Bible, and man could not find 
them out, of course it must have been 
of God. You proved to me that there 
was a God, by showing me things that 
man could not make, and God must 
have been, to make them. So now 
you say that the things in the Bible 
man could not find out, it must be of 
God. Now if you will tell me some 
of these things, I can tell Jack Wes- 
ton, at school to-morrow, that I know 
the Bible is of God, for I can prove it, 
and he will laugh no more at me." 

Grandpa. "What the Bible tells 
about God, man never could find out. 



36 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

It tells what sort of a Being He is?" 

Bobby. " But, Grandpa, can we not 
tell what He is from His works? 
When we see the sun ami moon, and 
all He has made, do we not know that 
He is great ? When we see how all 
these are made, every thing so well 
suited to its place, do we not know 
that He is wise? " 

Grandpa. "Well, all this is true. 
But do his works say any thing about 
when He commei o make them, 

or when He himself bo^an to live?" 

Bobby. " no ; does the Bible tell 
that? Does it tell bow old the world 
is, and how long God lias lived?" 

Grandpa. "The Bible says that 
Ood is eternal, that is, had no begin- 



THE BIBLE IS OF GOD. 3T 

ning, and will have no ending. He 
always was, and always w T ill be." 

Bobby. " Grandpa, I would nev- 
er have thought of that. I read in 
the little book that you brought over 
from England, that the gods the hea- 
then nations worship, have a begin- 
ning, were born, and none of the men 
ever supposed that their gods always 
lived. I reckon they never thought 
of it. That is something that is found 
alone in the Bible, and it must be 
from God, as no one else ever thought 
of it till it was found there. It is 
above man. It must be that God put 
that thought into the world." 

Pa, "Now, my son, leave out the 
Bible, and can any one tell how the 



38 THE BIBLE OP' GOD. 

world was made, or how man came 
upon the earth? " 

Bobby. "Well, I never thought of 
that. Did not some of the great and 
learned men of the world never find 
out that? I do not know." 

Pa. " No : no and 

out about it. though t hard 

to do so. Some of them it came 

by chance, others that it always was." 

Benny. ,; ves. Pa, I remember 
that when Bobbv was reading to 
Grandpa in his little book, while vou 
were gone, that some great men had 
taught that monkeys turned into men ! 
I laughed at the thought of a monkey 
becoming a man; but the said 

that these men did not tell where the 
monkeys came from.'' 



THE BIBLE IS OF GOD. 39 

Pa. "A great many foolish no- 
tions were held by men about creation, 
where the Bible was not known. Gocl 
alone knows that He made the earth 
and man, and as it is told in the Bi- 
ble, God must have written the Bible, 
or told it to men to write." 

Bobby. "Well, that is another 
proof that the Bible is of God. I'll 
tell Jack Weston that, and tell him to 
ask his Pa who made man, and I think 
the laugh will be against him, for he 
must take the Bible for it, or say he 
don't know, or that men sprang from 
monkeys. But Grandpa, is there any 
thing else the Bible tells that man 
never could find out? " 

Grandpa. " yes ; there is a fu- 
ture state, the Bible says. When we 



40 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

die here, we go to some other place to 
live. It says man never will die. 
His body and soul part, but the soul 
goes to another world, and at a cer- 
tain time the body, which we put into 
the grave, will be raised, and the two 
will be joined together again." 

Bobby. " But Grandpa, did not men 
know this? That little book says 
they believe it/' 

Pa. "But Bobby, how could they 
know it? When they put their friends 
who died, in the grave, did they ever 
come back to tell about it? " 

Bobby. " No sir ; I suppose that no 
one ever went into the grave and came 
back. But how did these men find it 
out, so as to believe it? " 

Pa. "Why they only hoped so. 



THE BIBLE IS OF GOD. 41 

They wanted to see their friends again, 
and hoped they would ; they did not 
know it. The Bible alone tells about 
this." 

Bobby. " If man did not know it, 
and God alone knows it, the Bible is 
from Him if it tells it." 

Pa. " Yes, you reason right. Men 
may and have hoped about this mat- 
ter, but the Bible alone speaks out 
clearly about it. It tells that there is 
a future world, a heaven all glorious 
and beauteous, in which shall live the 
good who die here, and a hell, filled 
with misery, where the wicked people 
shall be forever. But there is one 
more thing told which men know noth- 
ing about." 

Bobby. "What is that, Pa? I 



42 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

have three strong proofs now ; tell me 
the fourth one, so that I may be sure 
that God speaks in the Bible. I will 
read it more than ever." 

Pa. "It is how a man can get to 
heaven, and keep away from hell. If 
men did not know that there were a 
heaven and a hell, they could not 
know how to reach them."' 

Bobby. "That is true. But Pa, 
Grandpa told me that the only way to 
reach heaven was to be without sin, 
and that Christ would take that away, 
if he would ask Him. Did not man 
know how r to get free from sin ? ?? 

Pa. u JN~o. They knew that they 
were sinners, that they were wicked^ 
but did not know how to escape from 



THE BIBLE IS OF GOD. 43 

sin. Thev tried many ways, but all 
failed." 

Bobby. "0 yes, that is what Mr. 
Graves, the returned missionary, said 
was the reason why mothers threw 
their children into the river. He said 
that they knew and felt that they had 
sinned, and they thought they would 
be forgiven by these cruel acts. But 
Pa, did no one, without the Bible, 
know how to go to Christ, that He 
might take away their sins? " 

Pa. " If you take the Bible away, 
my son. they could know nothing 
about Christ, for in it only is Pie spo- 
ken of. Nature tells of God, but noth- 
ing of Christ," 

Bobby. "I see now ; the Bible tells 
the way of escape from sin, and the 



44 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

way to heaven, and as God only knew 
of these ways, He must have written 
it. I know now for myself, that the 
Bible is God's book. He wrote it by 
the hands of man. I can prove it now 
to them bad boys who made light of 
it." 

Grandpa. " But Bobby, there is an- 
other way to prove it, that your Pa 
has not told you, and that is from 
prophesy." 

Bohby. " Tell me, Grandpa, for I 
want to know all the proof. But what 
is prophesy?" 

Pa. "We have had a long talk 
now, and we must quit for to-night. 
To-morrow evening Grandpa will an- 
swer your question, and explain how 



THE BIBLE IS OF GOD. 



45 



prophesy proves the Bible to be of 
God." 

At family worship was read the sec- 
ond chapter of Proverbs, in which are 
these words : " The Lord giveth wis- 
dom ; out of His mouth cometh knowl- 
edge and understanding." 



M$? 




CHAPTER IV. 

THE BIBLE OF GOD PROVED FROM 
PROPHESY. 



HE next day. when Bob- 
by met Jack Weston at 
school, being anxious to 




I show him that he was right in 

^reading the Bible, and believ- 

I^J ing it to be the word of God, 

he asked him who .made man and the 

world. The boys were gathered 

around to hear. Benny, who was 

standing by, full of mischief, spoke 

46 



PROVED FROM PROPHESY. 47 

before Jack could answer, saying, 
"Why he believes that the world 
came by chance, and men grew from 
monkeys ! I know he does, for he 
does not believe the Bible." And 
Benny stepped behind his larger 
brother Bobby. 

Jack. "No I don't, either. God 
made them all." 

Bobby. " How do yon know, Jack ?" 
Jack would liked to have said, because 
the Bible said so, but he remembered 
that he had denied the truth of the 
Bible ; so he stammered out : 

" Why — why — because He did ;" 
and brightening up as a thought came 
into his mind, he said, "Mother said 
so, and she knows." 

Bobly. " But your mother reads 



48 THE BIBLE OF GOD, 

and believes the Bible, and she found 
it there. You deny the truth of the 
Bible. How do you know?" Jack, 
unable to answer, was turning away, 
saying: " Come, boys, let us play; 
what's the use of such talk?" when 
Bobby said, " Ask your Pa that ques- 
tion to-night, and see what he will say ; 
he does not believe the Bible." 

Bobby returned home at night, 
thinking of the talk to come off after 
supper. He was puzzled to know 
what prophesy meant, but he put the 
thought away, feeling that he would 
learn when all should meet in the sit- 
ting room. When supper was over, 
and all had taken their places, as on 
the evening before, Bobby said : 

" Now, Grandpa, tell us what proph- 



PROVED FROM PROPHESY. 49 

esy means, and how that proves that 
the Bible is from God." 

Grrandjia. "A prophet is one who 
tells what will take place in time to 
come. Prophesy is the telling before 
hand what will take place in the fu- 
ture. If I knew and would tell you 
what will take place next week, or next 
year, this would be prophesy, and I 
would be a prophet," 

Bobby. "But Grandpa, how does 
that prove the Bible to be from God ? 
I do not see what that has to do with 
the proof." 

Grandpa. " You will see after a 
while. Do you know of any one who 
can tell what will take place next 
week?" 

Bobby " Why no, Grandpa, no body 

4 



50 THE BIBLE OF GOD, 

can know what will be, even one day 
before hand. God, who Pa said was 
all-wise, who knows all things, past, 
present, and to come, alone can tell 
about the future." 

Pa. "Do -you not know that the 
Bible tells of future things ? It tells 
of many things which shall yet come 
to pass. It told of many before they 
happened." 

Bobby. "01 see now. The Bible 
tells of future events, and they come 
to pass. Man can not do this. Man 
did not write the Bible then. God 
must have done it, for He knows what 
will take place before hand. If the 
Bible does this, it is proof that it is of 
God. But did it do it? Will you 
not show me some of these prophesies, 



PROVED FROM PROPHESY. 51 

Pa, and then show me when they took 
place?" 

Pa. "I will show you some of 
them, so that you may see how the 
Bible has, before hand, told what 
would take place. I cannot tell you 
about all, as it would take too much 
time. You take the Bible and read 
where I will tell you, what the Bible 
says about the things to happen, and 
Grandpa will tell us when they hap- 
pened, as he has read all the histories 
that tell about them. We will com- 
mence with what is said about the 
great city of Babylon, how it should 
be destroyed, and all about what 
should take place at its fall." 

Benny. "But Pa, tell us about Bab- 
ylon first, What kind of a city was 



52 THE BIBLE OF GOD, 

it ? When was it built, and who built 
it ? Was it a great city when the Bi- 
ble said it should fall ? " 

Bobby. " Yes, Pa, tell us all about 
it, how great, and strong, and beauti- 
ful it was when it was said that it 
should be destroyed." 

Pa. " Babylon was first built four 
thousand and ninety-nine years ago, 
by those who were from Noah, who 
was saved in the Ark, when the flood 
was upon the earth, as the Bible tells 
us. Nimrod, the grandson of Noah, 
two hundred and thirty-four years af- 
terwards, made it a great deal larger. 
Eight hundred years afterwards, it 
was rebuilt by Semiramis, queen of 
Assyria. But it was Nebuchadnezzar, 
and his daughter Nitocris, who made 



PROVED FEOM PROPHESY. 53 

it a city so beautiful and grand that it 
became one of the wonders of the 
world. The city was built a perfect 
square, and each one of the four sides 
was fifteen miles long. Then there 
were great walls around the city, 
eighty-seven feet thick, and three hun- 
dred and fifty feet high." 

Benny. "Why it was larger than 
London ; was it not, Grandpa ? " 

Grandpa. "0 yes, Benny, it was 
eight times as large." 

Bobby. "What a mighty city it 
w r as ! But go on, Pa ; tell us about 
its houses and all its beauties." 

Pa. "It had fifty streets, each fif- 
teen miles long, and one hundred and 
fifty feet wide ; and at the ends of each 
street was a great gate in the wall, 



54 THE BIBLE OF GOD 



made of brass. There were one hun- 
dred gates of brass, twenty-five on 
each side of the city. There was a 
great river which ran through the cen- 
tre of the city, called the Euphrates. 
There were steps leading down to the 
river, and beautiful boats to cross from 
the east side of the city to the west. 
The houses were three or four stories 
high. In the middle of the city was 
a great temple, built for one of their 
gods called Belus. In this temple 
was a great image made of gold, said 
to be worth seventeen million five hun- 
dred thousand dollars, and it was said 
to be forty feet high. And there was 
a golden altar upon which they offered 
sacrifice to Belus, their God. 

" There were great hanging wardens 



PROVED FROM PROPHESY. 55 

in the palace of the king, containing 
four hundred square feet. Trees grew 
in these gardens, and beautiful flow- 
ers, so that in the very midst of the 
city one could have all the pleasant 
perfumes of the country. These were 
made for the king's wife, who had 
lived in the country." 

Bobhij, " what a beautiful place 
it must have been. I would like to 
have lived there." 

Pa. " The king was proud of the 
great city he had built, and for his 
pride God humbled him. He sent 
him from among men, and made him 
eat grass as an ox. God hates pride. 
But I have said enough about the city. 
Let us turn to the Bible, and see what 
it said should be its end." 



56 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

Bobby. " How long, Pa, was it said 
that the city should fall, before it did 
fall?" 

Pa. "Over a hundred years, and 
it was told what man should cause its 
fall, before that man was born. His 
name was Cyrus. He was a great 
warrior. But now, Bobby, turn to 
the thirteenth chapter of the prophet 
Isaiah, and read, commencing at the 
nineteenth verse." Bobby turned to 
the chapter and read : 

"And Babylon, the glory of king- 
doms, the beauty of the Chaldees' ex- 
cellency, shall be as when God over- 
threw Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall 
never be inhabited, neither shall it be 
dwelt in from generation to genera- 
tion ; neither shall the Arabian pitch 



PROVED FROM PROPHESY. 57 

his tent there ; neither shall the shep- 
herds make their fold there. But 
wild beasts of the desert shall lie 
there ; and their houses shall be full 
of doleful creatures, and owls shall 
dwell there, and satyrs shall dance 
there. And the wild beasts of the 
islands shall cry in their desolate 
houses, and dragons in their pleasant 
palaces ; and her time is near to come, 
and her days shall not be prolonged." 

Bobby. " This is what is said should 
take place ; did it, Grandpa ? " 

Pa, "Turn first to the fifty-first 
chapter of Jeremiah, and read the 
thirty-sixth verse. Let us have all 
the prophesy together. There it tells 
how Cyrus should take the city." 

Bobbv read : " Therefore thus saith 



58 THE BIBLE OF GOD 



the Lord, Behold I will plead thy 
cause and take vengeance for thee, and 
I will dry up her sea, and make her 
springs dry." 

Grandpa. "History tells us how 
this great city was destroyed. The 
Bible said it would fall by drying up 
the sea. Cyrus, when he had sur- 
rounded the city, and had tried to 
starve the people, so that they would 
give up, at length found out that he 
could enter the city by cutting the 
banks of the river, and letting the 
water run down, and then go in under 
the walls, where the river had been. 
He went in the bed of the river, and 
thus took his army into the city, while 
the king and his nobles were at a great 
feast ; and while thev were all drink- 



PROVED FEOM PKOPHESY. 59 

ing and dancing, suddenly Cyrus and 
his men rushed upon them, and the 
king, Belshazzar, was killed, with all 
his nobles. Thus was the city taken, 
and from this time it lost its glory 
and power." 

Bobby. "But Grandpa, did it en- 
tirely go to ruin ? The Bible said it 
should be so ruined that wild beasts 
and satyrs should be there. It was to 
be a place of ruins." 

Benny. "What is a satyr, Pa? 
Did you ever see one ? " 

Pa. " No, I never saw one ; but I 
know that it was a strange kind of an 
animal that lived in the woods, or 
amid the ruins of cities left alone. 
Some do not believe that there are any 



60 THE BIBLE OF GOD, 

such beings, but others say they have 
seen them." 

Grandpa. " Mr. Rich, a learned 
man who visited the ruins of Baby- 
lon, says that he saw great heaps of 
rubbish, and bricks, and pieces of 
glass and shells scattered about. He 
also says there were many dens of 
wild beasts, and he saw owls and bats 
amono; the ruins. He savs that a 
Choader, one of the inhabitants of the 
country, told him that there were sat- 
yrs there. The man told Mr. Rich 
that a satyr was an animal that looked 
like a man from the head to the waist, 
and the thighs and legs like a sheep 
or goat. He told him also that the 
Arabs limited it with dogs, and when 
they caught it, they eat the lower 



PROVED FROM PROPHESY. 61 

parts, but would not eat the other 
parts, because it looked like a man. 
All ancient writers tell how the city 
is but a ruin. All travelers speak of 
it as entirely destroyed." 

Pa. " Now you see how the Bible 
tells before hand what will take place. 
Is it not proof that it is of God? " 

Bobby. " Yes, for no one but God 
could know what will take place, and 
He must have written the Bible, as 
the Bible has this knowledge. But 
Pa, are there other prophecies in the 
Bible, like this, which have come to 
pass?" 

Pa. " yes, there are many more. 
Tyre, and Ninevah, and Ethiopia, and 
Egypt, and many more cities are told 
about ; but it would take us too long 



62 THE BIBLE OF GOD, 

to talk about them. It is just as true 
about these, as about Babylon. There 
is one more I will tell you of. You, 

boys, saw a proof of the Bible's truth 
the other day in Viola.'* 

Bobby, -What was it, Pa? I do 
not remember of seeing any thing like 
a proof of the Bible's truth." 

Bem':i. "All I saw strange was a 
crcx se Jew. He was going 

around with old clothes to sell. I 
reckon he was not a 

Pa. "Yes. Benny the 

piY 

BoV "Why. P; is a poor 

Jew ( that the Bible is true ? I 

never heard of such a thin 

Pa. ice the be- 

love Grod. hey were 



PROVED FROM PROPHESY. 63 

blessed with all good. God told them 
if they would keep his commands and 
do good, He would always bless them ; 
but if they did not, all curses should 
come upon them. It was said that 
they should be scattered and destroyed 
as a nation, yet that they should live 
to suffer. God said the}^ should be- 
come a hiss and byword to all na- 
tions. This is what the Bible said 
should happen. J3o you not see how 
it is true at this day ? " 

Benny. " Yes, Pa, I heard the men 
make fun of that old Jew in Viola, 
and the boys ran after him, calling 
him, 'old Abraham.' The men said 
he would steal." 

Bobby. "And I heard Mr. Bola 
say that his neighbor, Mr. Brand, was 



64z THE BIBLE OF GOD, 

as 'mean and stingy as a Jeiv. } Do all 
men thus scorn the poor Jews ? " 

Pa. " Yes, thev are a bvword for 
all nations. Thev did not obey God, 
and they became very wicked, and at 
last put to death God's Son on the 
cross, and God scattered them in all 
lands. Where ever you see a poor 
despised Jew, you have a proof that 
the Bible is true. The time will come 
when they shall again turn to God, 
and He shall bless them, but now they 
are an unhappy people. There is a 
great difference between the old Jew 
now selling old clothes, and the old 
Jew when he stood as the High Priest 
worshiping God in the beautiful tem- 
ple." 

Bobby. "Well, Pa, I am satisfied 



PROVED FROM PROPHESY. 65 

now that the Bible is of GocL I can 
prove it to myself and others, and 
shall hereafter, when I read it, be 
more interested, and feel that God is 
talking to me. But Pa — I like to for- 
got — I heard Will. Sanders say that 
there were so many contradictions and 
false sayings in the Bible, that if it 
was from God, He must be a strange 
kind of a God. I want you to explain 
all those places to me, so that I may 
be able to tell him better, and lead 
him to read and love the Bible. " 

Pa. " Many wicked men have said 
many wicked things about the Bible, 
and tried to make one part of it op- 
pose the other, but they have failed, 
as I will show you. But we have 
talked long enough to-night, and you 



66 



THE BIBLE OF GOD. 



must wait until to-morrow evening, 
then Grandpa and I will explain all 
to you." 

Bobby handed over the Bible to 
Grandpa, and the twelfth Psalm was 
read, in which are the words, "The 
words of the Lord are pure words ; as 
silver tried in a furnace of earth, pu- 
rified seven times ;" and the Lord's 
protection was asked for the night. 




CHAPTER V. 



THE BIBLE. OBJECTIONS MET. 



HE evening of the same 
clay that Bobby had his 
talk with Jack Weston, 
I Jack went home very much 
klown cast. He felt that Bob- 
by had the best of the argu- 
ment. He resolved that he would ask 
his father about these things, and see 
if he could not answer the arguments 
that Bobby's father had taught him. 

So when he got home, he told his fath- 

67 




68 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

er what had passed, and how Bobby's 
father was teaching him how to know 
that the Bible was from God, and he 
asked him to tell him how to answer 
Bobby next time. His father sat 
down and wrote a few lines to Mr. 
Myrtle, and told Jack to give the note 
to Bobby, for his father. He told 
Jack that the note would show Bobby 
and his father that the Bible could not 
be of God. Jack hastened to school 
next morning with the note, in a great 
glee to think that Bobby would be 
beaten now. He had read the. note, 
and when he met Bobby at school, he 
showed it to him, and told him that 
would show him what the Bible was. 
Bobby read the note, and as he-could 
not see how what was in it could be 



OBJECTIONS MET. 69 

answered, he felt a little down-hearted, 
but he told Jack that he would bring 
him an answer next day. So he hast- 
ened home when school was out, and 
as soon as he reached the house, he 
handed Mr. Weston's note to his fath- 
er, telling him all about his talk with 
Jack. Mr. Myrtle read the note, and 
told Bobby that he would explain all 
that was in it when they met that 
evening to renew their talks about the 
Bible. 

After supper, when all was arranged 
as on the evening before, Benny said : 
"Now Pa, I want you to answer that 
note that Mr. Weston sent you, for 
Jack Weston talked to Bobby to-day, 
as if it would show the Bible to be all 



70 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

a lie, and not fit for good people to 
read." 

Grandpa, " Before Pa answers that 
note, I want to ask Bobby a few ques- 
tions. I think the answers to them 
will give him another proof that the 
Bible is of God." 

Bobby, "I do not know whether I 
can answer them, Grandpa, but I will 
try. I will be glad to have another 
proof of the Bible's truth." 

Grandpa, " I think you can answer 
them if vou will think of them a lit- 
tie. The first one is, Do you think 
that bad men would have written the 
Bible? You and I read it through 
together, and you know what it teach- 



es." 



Bobby, after thinking awhile, said : 



OBJECTIONS MET. 71 

"No, 'Grandpa, I don't think bad men 
would have done it. If they did, they 
wrote against themselves, and men do 
not do that. The Bible says bad men 
shall not live out half of their days, 
and that the wicked shall be destroyed. 
Bad men would not have written thus 
against themselves ; besides, they had 
no reason to write thus. They gained 
nothing by it." 

Grandpa. "Well, you have an- 
swered right. The next question is, 
Would good men have written the Bi- 
ble?" 

Bobby waited some time before he 
answered ; he seemed in deep thought. 
At last he said with earnestness: 
" No sir ; I am certain good men would 
not have written the Bible of them- 



72 



THE BIBLE OF GOD. 



selves. Good men would not tell sto- 
ries. The Bible claims to be of God. 
If it was not of God, good men would 
not have said so, for that would have 
been telling what was not so. Good 
men would not have written it. They 
had no reason to write stories, as it 
did not do them any good." 

Grandpa. "Well now, if neither 
bad men nor good men would write 
the Bible, who would? When you 
take away all the bad and all the 
good, there are none left to write it. 
Who wrote it?" 

Bobby. "0 I see now, Grandpa. 
If bad men could not, and good men 
would not write the Bible, God must 
have done it. This is another proof. 
I am dad that vou told me of it. But 



OBJECTIONS MET. 73 

now, Pa, let us have the note answer- 
ed/' 

Pa. " Well, you take the note and 
read the objections Mr. Weston has 
written against the Bible, and I will 
answer them." 

Bobby. "The first objection is, 
' The Bible has caused more tears and 
blood-shed than all other books. If 
it was from a God that was good, it 
would not have done so ; therefore it 
is not from God. 7 " 

Pa. " That objection was brought 
against the Bible by Thomas Paine." 

Benny. " Who was Thomas Paine, 
Grandpa?" 

Grandpa. " He was a man who did 
not believe in the Bible, and wrote a 
book called ' The Age of Reason? 



74 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

against it. He lived at the time of 
the Revolutionary War. He was a 
bad man, and was often drunk. He 
died as he lived." 

Pa. "This is not true about the 
Bible. There are more wars and sor- 
rows and tears where the Bible is not 
known, than where it is known. Those 
who did evil things, and caused sor- 
row, though they said they believed 
the Bible, did not follow its words, for 
it teaches peace upon earth, and good 
will to man." 

Bobby. " I read in that history of 
France you gave me, Grandpa, that 
when the people of France burned the 
Bible, and called it a cheat, the whole 
country was filled with sorrow and 
tears. Men were murdered, and wo- 



OBJECTIONS MET. 75 

men suffered miserably. The whole 
people were in mourning. And. they 
had to bring the Bible back." 

Pa. " Yes, where the Bible is not, 
men are governed by their passions, 
and sorrow must come upon them. 
This then is simply untrue about the 
Bible, as history proves. Read the 
next." 

Bobby. " The next is, ' The Bible 
leads to immorality. If it was from 
a God of purity, it would not be so ; 
hence it is a cheat/ Why, Pa, this 
is just like the other. It is not true, 
is it?" 

Pa. " This also is from Paine. I 
reckon Mr. Weston has been reading 
his book, called ' The Age of Reason.' 
All infidels, nearly, have it. They 



76 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

make it their bible. I do not see how 
they can say this of the Bible, when 
they look at the morals of those who 
have the Bible, and those who have it 
not. They know that it teaches men 
to be moral, and that it tells men to 
keep themselves unspotted from the 
world." 

Grandpa. " We need not go out of 
our own country to see how untrue 
this is of the Bible. Good men read 
the Bible; bad men do not. Good 
men love it; bad men do not." 

Bobby. "When I go to Viola to 
Church, I see all the good people 
there, and the Bible is read to them. 
When I was at the tavern, I saw all 
sorts of men, except good ones. The 
men were drinking and cursing, and 



OBJECTIONS MET. 77 

saying bad things. I did not see the 
Bible, nor did I hear it talked about, 
except once, and then the bar-keeper 
said that his spirits had fhore effect on 
men than the Spirit the Bible talks 
about. I think a man ought to be 
ashamed to say such a thing of the 
Bible, as Mr. Weston has written, 
when he knows it is untrue." 

Pa. "Men hate the Bible, and 
that is why they say such things. 
When they say it they do not believe 
it, for they know that the Bible makes 
good men, and if it does, of course it 
does not lead to vice. But read the 
next objection.' ' 

Bobby. " The third one reads : ' It 
says that things were done that could 
not be done, as in the case of Noah's 



78 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

Ark. It was too small to hold all said 
to have been saved in it. 5 Can that 
be so, Pa? I never thought of that 
before." 

Pa, " This is a very small objec- 
tion, and shows the want of thought 
and calculation. It has been shown 
that the Ark would hold as much as 
sixteen large ships-of-war. The Ark 
was four hundred and fifty feet in 
length, seventy-five wide, and forty- 
five in depth. JNTow, sixteen ships-of- 
war will hold about fifteen thousand 
men, and enough for them to eat for 
eighteen months. There were but 
eight persons in the Ark, and about 
two hundred and fifty pairs of ani- 
mals, and a fewer number of birds. 
These could all have been put in the 



OBJECTIONS MET. 79 

Ark, and provisions enough for a year 
also. Thus you see that by figures, 
this objection is destroyed." 

Bobby. " How foolish for men to 
make such an objection, when it can 
so easy be overturned. Why, any 
school boy can calculate that, and 
show how untrue the statement is." 

Pa. " It is very foolish, but their 
hate for the Bible blinds them so that 
they cannot reason right. But has 
Mr. Weston any more objections?" 

Bobby. " yes, he has two more 
under one. He has it marked num- 
ber four, but there are two in it. I 
will read it all : ' The Bible contra- 
dicts itself. It says God tempted 
Abraham, and in another place it says 
God tempts no man. Matthew says 



80 THE BIBLE OF GOB. 

that Judas hanged himself, but in Acts 
it is said he fell headlong, and his 
bowels gushed out. Hence the Bible 
is a cheat.' This is all in the note." 
Pa. "Very learned men have tried 
to make it out that the Bible contra- 
dicts itself, but they have not done it. 
These two things in the note are like 
all the rest, not true. We will see 
the one about God tempting Abraham 
first. The mistake is in the word 
tempt. This word has two meanings, 
and it is used in one sense when it is 
said God tempted Abraham, and in 
the other when it is said God tempts 
no man. One meaning is to try men. 
God tried Abraham, tried his love and 
faith. The other is to lead men into 
evil and wickedness. In this sense 



OBJECTIONS MET. 81 

God tempts no man. He does not 
lead men into wickedness, but into 
good." 

Bobby, " I see that now, Pa. When 
Bob Mudd tried to get me to go to the 
circus, when you told me not to go, 
he tempted me. In this way God 
tempts no man. When you told Ben- 
ny the other day to throw his pretty 
bow and arrow that Grandpa gave 
him, into the fire, you tempted or 
tried him, to see if he loved you 
enough to do it, because you told him. 
In this way God tempted Abraham. 
The Bible does not contradict itself 
here. But how about Judas, Pa ? " 

Pa. " You have the true idea about 
the word tempt. I will explain to 
you about Judas, so that you will see 



82 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

that Matthew and Luke, who wrote 
the Acts, do not tell different things. 
Matthew says Judas hanged himself. 
Luke says he fell headlong, and his 
bowels gushed out. May not both be 
true? After he hanged himself, the 
rope may have broken, and when he 
fell, the fall may have caused the 
gushing out of his bowels. Matthew 
tells one part, and Luke the other; 
so you see there is no contradiction, 
both agree." 

Bobby. " Well, I am satisfied now. 
I will write all your answers out to- 
morrow, and tell Jack to give them to 
his Pa. I think Jack's mother will 
be glad to hear them read, for she be- 
lieves and reads the Bible. I am 
glad that you have answered all these 



OBJECTIONS MET. 83 

objections, for me. I love the Bible, 
and want to be sure that it is from 
my Heavenly Father. But Pa, I 
heard Mr. Theo last Sabbath say that 
the Bible was not only the best book, 
but that it was filled with beauties. 
He said there was no other book like 
it. I wish you would point out some 
of these beauties to me. I have found 
some of them myself, but I want you 
to point more out to me, for you can 
explain them to me so well." 

Pa. "Well, to-morrow evening 
Grandpa and I will show you some 
of the many beauties God has put in 
His Word. Now we will worship the 
God of the Bible, and thank Him for 
His Word." Mr. Myrtle read the 
third chapter of Proverbs, commen- 



84 



THE BIBLE OF GOD. 



cing, "My son, forget not my law; 
but let thine heart keep rny command- 
ments.' ' 





H^!-iSg~- 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE BIBLE. ITS BEAUTIES. 




OB BY, as he said he 
^would, wrote out the an- 
swers his father told him, 
,to Mr. Weston's objections 
to the Bible, and gave them 
to Jack the next clay, to give 
to his father. Nothing more was said 
by Jack to Bobby against the Bible, 
for he felt ashamed of what he had 
said about it. The next evening the 

boys came to their Pa, asking that he 

85 



86 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

would fulfill his promise of the night 
before, about the beauties of the Bi- 
ble. Benny commenced the talk, by 
saying : 

"Now, Pa. you promised to tell us 
some of the beautiful things the Bible 
has in it. Tell us about them. I 
heard Grandpa read to Bobby some- 
thing about a boy that ran away from 
his Pa, and got so poor that he could 
hardly live. Pie was called the Prod- 
igal Son. Tell us all about him, Pa. 5 ' 

Pa. "Well, the Bible tells of a 
good old man who had two sons. One, 
the youngest, asked his father for his 
portion of what his father owned, that 
he might go out by himself, and live 
as he pleased. The old man, though 
sorry that his voun°;cst boy wanted to 



TTS BEAUTIES. 87 

go away from him, gave him his por- 
tion of goods, and the young man 
went into a far country. His father, 
and mother, and brother, were left 
behind ; and in the country where he 
went, amid the gay scenes there, he 
forgot them all. While he had wealth, 
many gay friends gathered about him, 
and called him handsome, and witty, 
and wise, that they might please him, 
so that he would give them of his 
wealth. He led a joyous life, taking 
part in all the pleasures of the coun- 
try. There was nothing that money 
could buy, that he did not have if he 
wanted it. Young men praised him, 
and young ladies smiled upon him. 
All was prosperous, and he rejoiced 
in his way of living. But soon the 



88 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

clouds began to gather about him. 
His money began to fail, and when 
that was gone, his kind friends all 
turned away from him. There were 
no young men to laugh at his wit ; no 
young ladies to smile upon him. 
Those who were his friends in sun- 
shine, turned their backs upon him 
when the clouds came. At last, all of 
his money was spent. He w r as so 
poor that he was about to starve. So 
that he might have something even to 
eat, he hired himself to a man of that 
country, to feed swine. In rags, and 
scorned by those who once looked up 
to him, he fain would have eaten the 
food upon which the swine fed. Weep- 
ing at his forlorn condition, his mind 
turned towards his father's house. 



ITS BEAUTIES. 89 

Home, with all its joys and comforts 
came up before his mind. He remem- 
bered that home as the place where 
his mother was so kind to him. Mem- 
ory pictured many scenes of joy and 
happiness through which he had pass- 
ed. He remembered that mother as 
she stood with tears in her eyes the 
day he left. He still felt the warm 
grasp of his loving father's hand. He 
thought of all the comforts of that 
home, even that the servants had 
plenty and to spare. He thought how 
sinful and foolish he had acted in leav- 
ing all these comforts. At last, while 
he thought, he burst into tears, say- 
ing : l I will arise and go to my father, 
and tell him I am not worthy to be 
his son, for I have sinned against him 



90 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

and against God. I'll go and tell him 
to make me as one of his hired ser- 
vants.' Pie turned his face towards 
home, and started to return. He 
reached the place in a few days, and 
looked at all the old familiar scenery. 
His father, who loved him still, was 
looking out for him. He saw him at 
a distance, and ran and fell upon his 
neck, and kissed him. He took him 
into the house, and placed a beautiful 
robe upon him, and a ring upon his 
finder, and ordered the fatted calf to 
be killed in honor of his return. The 
poor wandering boy was now safe in 
his father's house, and there was great 
iov and feasting, for the old man said: 
' This my son that was dead, is alive 
again. 



ITS BEAUTIES. 91 

Benny. " That is a beautiful story, 
Pa ; but why did the young man leave 
his father and mother? Was it not 
very foolish in him to do so ? " 

Pa. " ves, but how many do the 
same thing now ? That is the beauty 
of the Bible. This young man was 
but a tvpe of those vouna men who 
go from home, and engage in all kinds 
of wickedness, and at last come to 
want. How beautifullv the Bible de- 
scribes his condition at home, and in 
that far country. You need not read 
novels to find interesting stories ; the 
Bible is full of them.' 7 

Bobby. " The Bible is not read, be- 
cause people think it is dry ; and peo- 
ple find fault with it because they 



92 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

have never read it. But Pa, tell us 
more about it." 

Pa. "Did you ever read the Bi- 
ble's description of God ? It is grand- 
ly beautiful. Let Grandpa turn to 
the third chapter of Habakkuk, and 
read it. I cannot tell it as it is told 
there." 

Grandpa read as follows : " God 
came from Tenia n, and the Holy One 
from mount Paran. Selah. His glo- 
ry covered the heavens, and the earth 
was full of his praise. And His 
brightness was as light. Before Him 
went the pestilence, and burning coals 
went forth at his feet. He stood and 
measured the earth : He beheld, and 
drove asunder the nations, and the 
everlasting mountains were scattered, 



ITS BEAUTIES. 93 

and perpetual hills did bow. His 
ways are everlasting. Thou didst 
cleave the earth with rivers. The 
mountains saw thee and trembled." 

Bobby. " What a grand description 
of God ! How terrible He is ! Who 
would not fear Him ! " 

Pa. " But there is another descrip- 
tion in the thirty-eighth chapter of 
Job, God is speaking to Job." 

Grandpa read : " Where wast thou 
when I laid the foundations of the 
earth? declare, if thou hast under- 
standing. Who hath laid the meas- 
ures thereof, if thou knoweth ? or who 
hath stretched the line upon it? 
Whereupon are the foundations, or 
who laid the corner-stone thereof, 
i\ 11 the morning stars sang together, 



94 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

and all the sons of God shouted for 
joy ? Canst thou bind the sweet in- 
fluences of Pleides, or loose the bands 
of Orion?" 

Bobby. " This is indeed grand. It 
is strange that men will not read the 
Bible, when such beautiful things are 
in it." 

Grandpa. "Men do not read it 
enough to see its beauties. There is 
a beautiful description of Jesus going 
to heaven, in the Psalms of David. 
It fills the mind with a beautiful pic- 
ture of His return to heaven." 

Bobby. " Tell it to us, Grandpa. I 
have read it, I suppose; but every 
time I read the Bible I find some new 
beauty." 

Grandpa. "Yes, that is the great 



ITS BEAUTIES. 95 

beauty of the Bible. You become 
tired of other books, but never of this. 
It is like a gold mine : the more you 
dig, the more gold you find; so the 
more you read the Bible, the more 
beauties you find." 

Benny. " But Grandpa, tell us 
about Jesus going back to heaven. 
Who went with Him ? How did He 
go?" 

Grandpa. " He went from the 
Mount of Olives, near the city of Je- 
rusalem. His disciples were standing 
around Him, and while He talked 
with them, He commenced to go up 
towards heaven ; and, as they looked, 
bright angels came to meet Him ; and 
with these beautiful beings around 
Him, He went to the pearly gates of 



96 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

heaven : and one with Him exclaimed, 
' Lift up your heads, ye gates, and 
be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, 
and the King of glory shall come in. 5 
And a voice from within the city is 
heard, asking, ' Who is this King of 
glory?' And the answer is, 'The 
Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord 
mighty in battle.' Then again it is 
said by the one without, ' Lift up your 
heads, ye gates ; even lift them up, 
ye everlasting doors, and the King of 
glory shall come in.' The question 
from within is, ' Who is this King of 
glory?' The answer is heard, bold 
and loud : ' The Lord of Hosts ; He 
is the King of glory.' And amid the 
waving of bright wings, and the sweet 
music of heaven, Jesus enters, and is 



ITS BEAUTIES. 97 

seated upon His throne. Is not that 
a more beautiful picture than man 
could make? " 

Bobby. "0 yes, Grandpa, it is. 
How I wish I could have been with 
Him there. How I would like to see 
that beautiful city. But tell us more, 
Grandpa." 

Pa. " You will have to study the 
Bible for yourself, and find its beau- 
ties. It is full of them. I hope now 
you will read it often, as it is what 
God tells to man, and has so many 
beautiful things in it." 

Bobby. " I will read it more, now 
that I know so much more about it. 
I will read it every day. But Pa, I 
noticed when I read it with Grandpa, 

that all through it, it talked about 

7 



98 THE BIBLE OF GOD. 

Christ ; it is all about Him in some 
way. I know that He is the Son of 
God, for you told me so, and Mr. 
Theo said He was the Savior of men, 
and Grandpa said He was the Son of 
man. I wish you would tell me all 
about Him, will you? " 

Pa. "Yes, the Bible is all about 
Him, and I am glad that you want to 
know more of Him, for He is the only 
Savior of men, and I hope you will 
go to Him, and ask Him to save you." 

Bobby. " I will, Pa ; but tell me 
about Him, so I may go to Him." 

Pa. " It is too late to-night, but at 
another time we will have a long talk 
about Him. You and Benny must 
go to the city to school next week, and 
when you come home at vacation, 



ITS BEAUTIES. 99 

Grandpa and I will tell you all about 
Him." 

Bobby said be would wait, but he 
would take his Bible with him, and 
read what it said about Christ, Tears 
came in his eyes as he thought about 
leaving his Ma, and Pa, and Grand- 
pa, and home, to go off to school ; and 
Benny put his arms around his Ma's 
neck and said, as he cried and kissed 
her, he did not know how he was to 
leave her. Grandpa, before he pray- 
ed, read the first chapter of Proverbs, 
in which are these words: "My son, 
hear the instruction of thy father, and 
forsake not the law of thy mother; 
for they shall be an ornament of grace 
upon thy head, and chains about thy 
neck." 




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